The former spokesman for UC Riverside says the university denied him a promotion because he is a man and, in a rare move, has filed a gender discrimination complaint with the federal Department of Labor.

Jack Chappell, who worked at UCR for more than 17 years before he was laid off last August, also claims that UCR failed to provide him with employment protections afforded Vietnam veterans under federal law.

The complaint is a precursor to a lawsuit Chappell plans to file next month, according to his Riverside attorney, Danuta Tuszynska. Chappell claims damages of at least $750,000.

He could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

He says in his complaint, filed last week, that he helped craft the job description for a new position called the assistant vice chancellor for strategic communications and marketing. Chappell's title was executive director for university relations, and he was responsible for many of the duties that fall under the new position.

But he said his supervisor at the time, Vice Chancellor for Advancement Robert Nava, made it clear that Chappell would not be considered for the job, according to the complaint.

"Jack was told it was an `ABC' proposition, meaning `anybody but Chappell,' " Tuszynska said when contacted by phone. "He was excluded from the outset."

Offer refused

UCR instead hired Kathleen Peach, a former public relations executive with Northwest Airlines, in May 2002 after a national search firm recommended her. She is paid about $122,000 a year.

According to the complaint, the university then offered Chappell a position as a PR representative, placing him at the same level as people he had supervised, an offer he refused.

Peach said the university cannot comment on personnel complaints.

"What I can say is that the UC is an equal-opportunity employer and does not engage in discrimination against any person employed by or seeking employment at the university," Peach, who has a law degree, said in a phone interview.

Tuszynska said UCR was intent on hiring a woman because the University of California had recently been criticized for hiring too few female administrators.

The crux of Chappell's complaint is that Peach had no experience working for a college or university, while he had 17 years at UCR.

Rare cases

Gender discrimination cases filed by men are very rare, said Larry Ball, a human resources consultant in Orange County who often testifies as an expert in discrimination cases.

"If you went before a jury, their first reaction would probably be something like, `Give me a break,' " Ball said by phone from Lake Tahoe. "But the same standards apply to a man as they do to a woman."

Those who have worked with Peach say she is competent and thorough.

In her first year on campus, Peach has restructured the Office of Marketing and Media Relations, intent on raising the profile of UCR to a national audience. She has also served on a Riverside city marketing advisory board and helped organize the elaborate inaugural ceremony for new UCR Chancellor France Cordova.

"We've worked with her since she has been on board," said Riverside's deputy city manager, Michael Beck, in a phone interview. "We very much appreciate and respect her input, knowledge and intellect."

Chappell says in his complaint that his layoff followed "more than a year of harassment, intimidation, discrimination . . . and retaliation."

Tuszynska said Chappell's working conditions sent him into a depression, which eventually led to police going to Chappell's home May 2002 because a friend feared he was suicidal.

According to court documents, Chappell told officers that he "had a bad day." He later declared in documents that "I am not now, nor have I ever been, a danger to myself or others."

Chappell no longer lives in Riverside.